


The world is ahead

by weddingbells



Category: Union J (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Hand Jobs, Homophobia, M/M, rich!jj, skater!george
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:26:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weddingbells/pseuds/weddingbells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>George Shelley just wants to have fun with his mates in the skatepark. It isn't his fault bad things happens. When his parents sends him to boarding school he's all but pleased, but his room mate (one JJ Hamblett) makes it better for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The world is ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Based on these pictures: [skater george](http://shellett-is-my-oxygen.tumblr.com/post/48134265933/he-was-a-skater-boy-she-said-see-you-later-boy)
> 
> This is fiction. I do not own any of the Union J boys, or Ella Henderson, or Rylan Clark.   
> I apologize if there are any mistakes, it's all on me!

George Shelley would be the first one to admit that he was many things. And not many of these things were actually good things. Actually most of them were pretty bad. But he was _not_ some kind of _drunken-addicted to drugs-thief_ that spent all of his time in the skate park, smoking and drinking together with his none-good friends while ignoring pile after pile of school work and life responsibilities.

Okay, so maybe he _did_ spend a lot of the time in the skate park. And maybe there had been a few times when he had been a slight bit intoxicated and tumbled through his bedroom window in the middle of the night, thinking he did a splendid job sneaking inside, but accidently (of course) waking all of his siblings, both his parents and maybe even the next door neighbour. Most of those times it had been Rylan’s fault though, because Rylan was the one that usually brought the stronger booze. George couldn’t really be blamed.

But, the marijuana his parents had found in his top drawer? _Totally Ella’s_. George was just safe-keeping it so that Ella’s parents wouldn’t find it and take it away from her. George didn’t even smoke that, and he’s not sure even Ella did, it was just something one of her boyfriends had given to her and she hadn’t gotten rid of it yet. And since her parents had been pretty much mental since she had been seen with that one guy with the skull tattoos, going through her room whatever chance they got, George had just been the good friend helping her out.

Too bad George’s parents had found it, though. And then there had been _a lot_ of yelling going on for what felt like hours. The _oh-god-what-were-you-thinking_ :s seemed to never end and then his mum started going on about how his brothers could have found it and bad, bad, bad George for putting his brothers in dangers. His brothers that are so young and too innocent to realise what it was.

George’s head hurt by the end of the yelling and he just wanted to go away. His mum started crying and his dad said he didn’t know what they should do with him anymore, all while shaking his head and looking disappointed.

And that’s when his mum shoved the First Primate Academy-pamphlet in his face.

“You’re going. End of discussion.” She said with trembling lips and eyes still blank with tears and then she completely broke down again, sobbing into her arm. George started at the pamphlet for a few seconds. Then he protested loudly.

“Boarding school? No, mum!”

“Your mother said _end of discussion_.” His dad said with a firm eye that made it clear this was the end of discussion. George had no say in this.

It was _so_ unfair. George complained all night. (Even cried a little, but he would never admit to that if someone asked him about it later). His parents had already decided though, and not even tears helped.

They claimed he had been given a fair share of warnings already. That if he didn’t stop with the drinking, skating, bad grades and theft they would send him away. George had yelled that he had never stolen anything. (Okay, so maybe there was this one time, this one, tiny, time when he and Ella had borrowed that skeleton from science class, but it was just for a laugh with Rylan, that could hardly count). George didn’t think that he had been given that many warnings. Maybe one. Or one and half. Certainly not many. He didn’t deserve this.

“Dad, I don’t wanna go.” He said later one night when his mum was still at work. “Please dad, you can’t make me go.”

His dad had looked at him with part sad, but mostly disappointed, eyes.

“I’m sorry, Georgie.” He said and patted George on the shoulder, typical pity pat. “But it is for the best. You must know your mother and I only want what is best for you. You just need some time away from that crowd at the skate park. Find some new friends, be around new people. Better influences. Not those skater kids, they’re not good for you. And this school is good, I promise.”

George didn’t want better influence; he didn’t want to be around new people. He wanted his friends.

And George had cursed at everything and looked himself inside of his room for days, maybe. He had even started to plan his escape away from the house, running away and live on the road, before his parents could send him away to that probably awful place. He gave up on the idea pretty soon though, he had no money, no idea on where to go and they would probably find him right away anyway. He was stuck with this, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Four days after his parents had decided George decided to text Ella. He had ignored numerous texts and calls, so he should probably contact her.

_I’m being shipped off._

Ella’s reply came almost right away

_Noes! Where?! Bcuz of the weed?_

George rolled his eyes at the screen before texting back.

_No, bcuz I have such good grades YES ofc it’s bcuz of the weed jfc_

_I’m sorry G-man_ _L_

George sighed. Everyone was sorry. He was sorry. It didn’t help. He was still being sent away.

So, because of some bad grades, a borrowed skeleton and a bag of marijuana only there for safekeeping George found himself looking through a pamphlet for First Primate Academy, laughing at the stupid name and the stupid picture of a monkey in their school emblem, and trying to read what he could expect from it. The pamphlet had pictures of the school (looked old, like it was some kind of castle, only it wasn’t), fancy texts about how learning his important and then they had _a lot_ of rules.

George read through rules about the dorms, and then he skipped to what kind of activities you could take part of outside of school (lots of posh stuff, like horse riding and no words on skate parks) and when George came to a section about the curriculum he gave up on reading. Instead he started to look at the pictures of students in the pamphlet. All happy faces, all dressed in the school uniform. The boys had on black pants, light grey vests, white shirts and pink ties and George cringed a bit when he pictured himself wearing that. It just wasn’t him. He didn’t want a school uniform, he just wanted his own clothes, the ones he was comfortable in, the ones that suited skateboarding perfectly. This looked awful.

George sighed. He really didn’t want to dress up like this. He really didn’t want to go away to boarding school, to hang around with posh, rich kids he had nothing in common with. He wanted to stay here. He wanted to stay with Ella, Rylan and the rest of the gang.

But it was not happening. He was leaving.

***

Ella and Rylan came to the house the day of George’s departure. Ella hugged him tight, leaving him with a photo album filled with pictures of all of his friends and George felt a big lump in his throat.

“Don’t forget about us, mate.” Rylan said as he gave George one last hug and George shook his head.

“Never. Ever. I’ll come back on breaks and stuff. Don’t forget about _me_. I’ll be stuck with all those stuck-up posh kids while you’re here living your life.”

Ella had tears in her eyes and she flung her arms around George’s neck again.

“Oh, George, I really wish you could stay. I really, really wish we could keep you here.”

Rylan nodded and George shook his head.

“It’s not happening. Sadly. They want me gone.”

He glanced over at the car, where his parents were already waiting for him to finish his goodbyes.

“You have our numbers.” Rylan said and George sighed. That was pretty much all he had now.

One last hug from both of them and then his mum called for him, and George sighed as he watched Rylan and Ella skate off, as he made his way to the car. His dad started the car, backing out of the driveway and his mum looked back at him in the backseat.

“It is for the best, George.” She said.

George ignored her. This really didn’t feel like the best.

***

“Welcome to First Primate Academy.”

The headmaster was a pompous, older man, dressed in a fancy suit that maybe was a size too small for him. He introduced himself as Mr. Aldridge. He then shook hands with George and then with his parents, and then they continued chatting about the school as George looked around.

They were in a garden, it surrounded the whole school and George had to admit it was kind of beautiful. Being the beginning of April, it really felt like spring was close and the trees were green and George could actually hear birds chipper everywhere. Typical, the school was like a post card. With sound. It was almost disgustingly perfect. George held on to his skateboard, like it was the only real thing.

“I don’t think you will have any problems catching up on the curriculum.” Mr. Aldridge said, flipping through the pages of George’s file. “You seem like a bright young boy, Mr. Shelley. You just need a push in the right direction. We can give you that here.”

George arched one eyebrow and looked over at his parents to see if they too questioned the fact that he was being called a bright, young boy, but his parents seemed to love it. George sighed on the inside. Now he would probably have to actually prove something to teachers and he wasn’t really good at that. He didn’t want to be bright. He wanted to be like he had always been.

“I have another meeting to attend.” Mr. Aldridge excused himself. “But I will make sure you can find your dorm. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. All the staff will be happy to help out.”

George sighed again and then he followed Mr. Aldridge in to the school (passing a lot of curious posh kids on the way, all looking at his skateboard and his jeans and George was just tired of them already) and then they walked up a set of stairs, through a corridor and then finally, when George thought he had been led into a labyrinth he would never get out from, Mr. Aldridge stopped.

“Here’s your room, Mr. Shelley. I’m sure your roommate, Mr. Hamblett, will help you out to get settled.”

George rolled his eyes as Mr. Aldridge turned his back on them and disappeared down the hallway.

“Don’t be difficult now, George.” His mum hissed, and George opened up his mouth to protest, but his dad cleared his throat.

“We should go home, darling. George can manage on his own now, isn’t that right boy?”

“Sure.” George muttered and took the bag from his dad, containing all his clothes and his laptop. “I’ll be fine.”

His mother hugged him tight, tears in her eyes.

“You know it’s for the best.” She whispered. “It’s a good school. You will like it here.”

“Do I really have to?” George begged one last time. “I won’t fit in.”

“You’ll do fine.” His dad smiled and hugged him as well. When they walked down the hallway, disappearing out of sight George felt so alone it wasn’t even funny anymore.

Then he tried to keep it cool as he put his hand on the door handle and opened up the door.

***

JJ Hamblett was nothing like George. Actually, they were so far apart that George after five seconds was sure that they would, never, _ever_ find anything to even talk about. Not anything that they both liked anyway.

When George came into the room JJ was laying on his bed, reading a huge book that looked so dull George wanted to puke. He looked at George with curious eyes, trailing from the skateboard in his hand to the worn-out jeans and the Ramones t-shirt.

“You’re George.” He commented. His voice was a bit soft, kind of like himself. He was dressed in the school uniform, except for the vest that was put away on a chair. His hair was black and he had one of the biggest quiffs George had ever seen. He was cute, though. Really cute. George found himself almost giggling a little when JJ’s eyes looked at him. Then he nodded.

“Yup, that’s my name. And you’re…”

“Jamie. People call me JJ.”

“JJ. Cool.” George said, not thinking it was cool at all, really, but just to have something to say. George dropped his bag on the floor and threw himself on the bed, staring up into the ceiling for a while before looking over at JJ again. JJ was staring at him.

“Any fun to do around here? Any skate parks?” George asked.

JJ snorted.

“No. We don’t do that here.”

“Boo.” George said, but he had already expected it to be that way. “Then what do you do around here? Read books like that?” He looked at the book in JJ’s hands. JJ laughed.

“If you’re in Mrs. Hickle’s history class then yes. But other than that, I go horseback riding.”

“Horses. Real ones?” George asked, grinning and JJ rolled his eyes.

“Of course.”

“I don’t do that mate, skateboards more my thing.”

“I can see that.” JJ smiled a little, and then he closed his book. “Well, why are you here then, George? Doesn’t look like your kind of school, no offence.”

“None taken.” George said and sat up on the bed again. “This is my punishment. I was a bad boy.”

JJ arched one eyebrow.

“Really? What did you do then?”

George looked at him all serious.

“I killed a man.”

JJ’s eyes widened and George held his face serious for about five seconds before he started laughing.

“Oh my god, you should see your face. No dude, I didn’t kill anyone. My parents just thought I was a bit of a pain in the ass. Too much alcohol and problems, obviously. So they shipped me off. Away from all the bad influence they said.” George sighed.

“Well, hopefully it will get better here then.” JJ commented, and then he opened his book again. “I really should study, so if you don’t have any questions or stuff, I really should get back to this.”

“Fine.” George sighed. Maybe JJ was cute, but he was a bit serious. Maybe that could change. He lay back down on the bed again, staring up into the ceiling for a while when he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket. It was a text from Rylan.

_U settled in then?! Nice roomie?_

George laughed. Rylan was always so curious. George missed him already.

_Yah, bit of a snob and bookworm. Kinda cute tho_

_Cute? Show me!!_

George grinned. Then, as sneaky as he could manage he lift his phone up and snapped a picture of JJ with his book without him noticing. He uploaded it to the conversation and then hit send.

_omfg kinda cute?! Man, he’s smoking hot!! You should hit that_

George felt his face turn red. He was suddenly really nervous that JJ would see the conversation because maybe it was just a tad bit soon to be in a conversation about how hot he was, considering George had only just learned JJ’s name.

_Nah, don’t think he’s game._

_Change his mind then!! Love you G-man x_

_Miss you x_

George sat up again, staring at JJ for a while. Soon JJ noticed him staring and he looked up at him from his book.

“Did you want anything?”

“I’m bored.” George said. It was true. He was bored already. “Is there anything to do here except reading?”

JJ smiled and closed his book again.

“I’ll show you the common room. You should meet some people anyway, if you don’t want to be a crazy loner. It’s  no fun.”

“You’re speaking from experience?” George grinned jokingly, but he immediately stopped when he noticed JJ looking a bit gloom.

“Well, yeah.” JJ said quietly. “But it was a long time ago. Let’s go.”

***

The common room was filled with people, but JJ steered George towards a corner where two guys, kind of annoyingly gorgeous, one dressed like a proper jock with a quiff almost like JJ’s and the other with blonde highlights in brown hair with really fashionable, probably expensive clothes, were sitting and talking about something. They looked up and nodded at JJ when they saw him and George.

“This is George Shelley.” JJ said, before anyone else could say anything. “He’s just transferred here.”

“To the place with no skate parks.” George grinned, trying to joke and act cool. None of the other boys seemed to find it funny though. JJ pointed towards the guy with the quiff.

“This is Josh Cuthbert.”

Josh waved and smiled politely, only not really smiling at all. His lips hardly moved, but his eyes sparkled in a nice way.

“And this is Jaymi Hensley.”

“Hello, George.” Jaymi said, with a just as polite smile that Josh had, only this smile was bigger. “Do you like it here so far then?”

“Well… I guess? You’ve got a nice garden. And monkeys.” George said.

It turned awkward. JJ cleared his throat.

“Uhm, well, just wanted George to know a few people. You know.”

“Well, we’re the best people to know!” Jaymi grinned and George breathed out. Jaymi seemed to have a tiny sense of humour anyway.

“Great!” George said and beamed towards Jaymi. “Is it you guys I go to when I need booze then?”

It turned dead quiet.

“We don’t drink.” Josh said and his face was really serious. “It’s not allowed. Also, it’s a poison. You shouldn’t fill up your body with poison.”

George wanted to disappear.

“No skate park and no booze? I see why my parents sent me here.”

Jaymi patted George on the shoulder.

“It will be fine, George Shelley. It’s a nice school. You will like it here.”

JJ smiled as well.

“I could take you to the stables one day.”

George grimaced. Horses were _so_ not his thing. He didn’t really like any animals bigger than himself. They made him uncomfortable.

“Maybe you should show me your book instead?”

***

After three weeks George had almost gotten used to wearing the silly uniform. Almost. JJ still laughed now and then when George tried to turn the uniform into a bit more of an outfit he could be comfortable with (like rolling up the sleeves, which he learned was forbidden when one teacher noticed it and yelled at him) and trying to pin a peace-sign to his chest. No one took away that though, so it was okay.

He had also started to enjoy the company of JJ even more. He was nice. Maybe they didn’t have much in common, but at least JJ had been more fun when they started to get to know each other more and he had been really great with helping George out in pretty much all of his classes.

Also he was _really_ cute.

That was kind of a problem though because his cuteness often left George a bit flustered and sometimes when JJ took off his shirt near George, George could hardly breathe because seeing JJ’s almost tanned skin, perfect abs and probably soft skin was a bit too much for him to handle.

George had to learn pretty quickly how to hide an erection that just wouldn’t go down, when the person causing the problem was really close to him in the room. 

One night when JJ was out, George was skyping with Ella and Rylan, whining about his problems. Mostly he talked about missing the skate park, but then Rylan started asking about JJ.

“He really is cute.” Ella said, cheeks flushed as her smile widened. “Rylan showed me the pic, George you should _totally_ go for him.”

George shook his head.

“No, no way. I don’t think he’s gay anyway.”

Rylan snorted and flipped his hair in a sassy way.

“George, darl. He’d be mental if he didn’t fall for you. You’re gorgeous.”

“Trying to get into my pants, Clark?” George grinned. “Up for some skype sex?”

“Oh my god, you guys are disgusting.” Ella sighed and hid her face in her hands. “Stop it, I’m gonna hang up on both of you.”

The conversation was cut short anyway because George heard a key in the lock to the door.

“JJ’s back, gotta go guys, talk later!” He said quickly and ended the call.

_Go for him! x_ Rylan wrote before George shook his head, signing off just when JJ entered.

He was dressed in a jockey outfit, and he held a helmet under his arm, obviously he had been to stables.

“How was the horses?” George asked, trying to keep it cool, even though he was still a bit afraid of just thinking about what would have happened if JJ had entered the room any sooner, or if he had heard what George said. JJ smiled.

“Fine. You want to go with me tomorrow? Josh and Jaymi are coming too, since it’s Saturday and they’ve got nothing better to do anyway.”

George frowned, but then he batted his eyelashes towards JJ, jokingly, thinking that if he over flirted with him, then JJ wouldn’t realise that he actually had real feelings for him.

“JJ, love, for you I’d do many things, many things I am not even that proud of, but horses? Not my thing. Not at all my thing. They are alive. And have… large tongues.”

JJ laughed, and put away the helmet and took of his jacket.

“George, they really aren’t bad. You would love it. Please, just come with us? You can’t spend the whole day alone here.”

George thought about it for a few seconds. Spending a Saturday alone did seem rather boring.

“Well, let’s say, not promising anything though, that I will go with you to the stables and those… horsie thingies. Will you go skateboarding with me then?”

George smirked. JJ looked a bit unsure on what he should say, but then he smiled again.

“Fine. You go with me to the _horsie thingies_ , and I’ll go on your skateboard, skater boy.”

“Oh, you’re an Avril Lavigne fan then?” George smiled, but JJ looked confused.

“Who?”

“Never mind.” George muttered. Wow, these rich kids sometimes seemed to have no clue on what life was really about.

***

JJ and George walked alone to the stables next morning, they were meeting Jaymi and Josh there. When they got there George was a nervous wreck, and he couldn’t even appreciate that the stables were really big and beautiful, because the size would mean that they could hold hundreds of horses, _alive_ horses, and it pretty much scared George. JJ looked over at him when he noticed him getting pale.

“You okay there, Shelley? It’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not sure about that.” George muttered. “Are you sure that they don’t eat people? Maybe they can smell fear. Oh god, this is why I stick to skateboards!”

“I promise you won’t regret it.” JJ promised and then raised his arm to wave, because Jaymi and Josh were coming towards them. Josh looked gloom.

“We have to take care of a class of youngsters coming for their training session.” Josh muttered. “Original leaders got sick. Of course me and Jaymi got dragged into it.”

“It won’t be bad, Josh.” Jaymi laughed. “But yeah, we can’t come with you guys. You sure you’re okay on your own?”

JJ nodded but George looked around, noticing a few black and brown, really huge horses walking next to them in the paddock.

“Maybe we should just do this another time.” George said, taking a few steps backwards. “One day when we can all go.”

“Oh no!” JJ laughed and grabbed George’s arm, pulling him with him. “You’re not backing out now. It will be fun. I’ll show you my horse.”

JJ led George into the stables, they walked past many horses (and they were really huge) and then JJ stopped by one horse.

It was really black, with a red mane that looked almost like fire. It had dark, brown eyes and when JJ patted the horse’s neck, it turned to JJ and nudges his hand, probably looking for sugar cubes. (George wasn’t really sure about that, but he had seen enough movies with horses to know that they usually ate sugar cubes.)

George wouldn’t really admit it if JJ asked him, but he was kind of beautiful. JJ looked over at George, smiling.

“You like him?”

“Uhm… he’s okay.” George said, slowly taking a step forward, still really careful, because he didn’t trust the horse already. “What’s his name?”

“Buttercup.” JJ said, and George wanted to fall over because that just seemed all too lame for a horse like this, with a red mane that looked like fire, it just couldn’t be real.

“You named this horse _Buttercup_?” he asked, not really wanting to believe it. JJ looked at him with a serious face, but then he started laughing.

“No, I didn’t name him Buttercup. His name is Thunder. Isn’t that right, Thunder?” He whispered to the horse and Thunder/Buttercup/whatever his name was, neighed.

“Thunder.” George repeated. “Cool.” Thunder seemed like a much more fitting name for a horse like that.

“You want to ride him with me?” JJ asked, beaming at George, and he looked so happy George felt a bit weak in the knees.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“We’ll both go.” JJ promised. “I’ll take care of you. We’ll be like Legolas and Gimli.”

“You’ll be Gimli then.” George said and laughed. “I don’t have a beard.”

“What, you mean I have a beard?” JJ laughed and touched his skin. “This isn’t even a stub!”

“Yeah well, I’m taller than you are then.” George decided. “Also, Legolas would totally be a skater if he was here right now.”

***

JJ helped George to get up on Thunder, who was standing really still and was extremely calm during the whole thing, which was the complete opposite of George, who was pretty much shaking the whole time.

“This is a bad, bad idea.” George repeated over and over again as JJ sat up on the horse as well, holding George close as he grabbed the reigns. “Bad, bad.”

Well, bad that he was on a horse. JJ’s arms around him? Not really _that_ bad. JJ smiled.

“It will be fine. I’ll show you something!”

He made Thunder start walking, and soon when they were heading away from the stables (George had his eyes closed most of the time, trying not to throw up) but he noticed Josh and Jaymi with a group of youngsters on ponies anyway.

JJ put his head on George’s shoulder, looking forward as he guided Thunder.

“Don’t close your eyes, George. You’ll miss everything.”

George opened his eyes again, blinking in the sunlight. The sky was blue, just a few clouds and it was warm out. The sound of birds chippering in the sky and the wind in the trees, and then the cloppery sound of Thunder’s hooves against the ground felt nice. George breathed out.

This wasn’t that bad.

The rode away from the stables, up a wooden path and they were silent pretty much the whole time and George didn’t feel the need to say anything. He looked at the trees and all the nature. They didn’t really have these kinds of things back home. Soon they came out into a glade and George almost lost his breath when he saw the view.

They were next to a big lake, the water blue with sun in it and the green grass around it, the beautiful trees and flowers made it look absolutely beautiful. George hadn’t realised, but they must have walked up a hill or something because the view was great.

JJ smiled and didn’t say anything, instead he jumped off Thunder, then helped George down. He let Thunder eat the grass and walk by himself, and then he turned to George again.

“This wasn’t that bad, was it? Horses are nice, right?”

“I don’t know.” George said. “But this, this place is really nice. Do you show all the boys this place, then?”

JJ laughed and he sat down, looking out over the lake.

“Well, Josh and Jaymi have been here, of course. But I wanted to show you. Showing you that this place really is nice. So that you don’t have to miss your old school so much.”

George sat down next to JJ, glancing over at him.

“I don’t miss my old school that much.” He said, but JJ laughed.

“George, I notice you. You do miss them. Your friends and all that, right?”

George was silent, but then he nodded.

“Well okay, maybe a little. But it’s cool, I’ll be fine.”

“Just don’t want you to be sad.” JJ said and he looked so caring George had to swallow. He looked at JJ for a few seconds, but then he had to look down, because JJ’s eyes made him feel weak and this whole setup was just a bit too romantic for him to keep his feelings at bay, not just jumping him right there.

“This school isn’t that bad.” George said finally, when they had been quiet for a while. “I mean, it could be worse. I could be bullied or you could be, telling me off, or I could fail or my classes or something…”

JJ smiled.

“You’d be bullied? Nah. Aren’t you a bit too handsome for that?”

George cheeks turned red and when JJ noticed that, so did his.

“I mean…” JJ stammered. “God, I don’t mean that like a, like a pickup line or something… God, I didn’t take you here to hit on you, please don’t think that!”

“I don’t.” George whispered, but JJ was still rambling on nervously.

“I mean, it’s not that it wouldn’t be… I mean, not like you’re not handsome, I mean, people would probably hit on you, I just don’t… Not that I don’t find you attractive. But just…”

“JJ!” George laughed and put one hand on JJ’s arm to get him to stop. “When was the last time you hit on someone?”

JJ’s face turned red.

“Well…”

“You don’t have to explain, I know it was just an innocent comment.” George said, trying to sound casual, even though his inside really wanted it to be _more_ than an innocent comment.

“Good.” JJ breathed out, and then they were quiet again. They just watched the view for a few minutes, and then JJ got up.

“I should take Thunder back.” He said and reached out his hand to help George up. “But this was nice.”

George nodded. It had been nice. More so than he had thought. He looked at Thunder.

“Do I really have to get up on that again?”

JJ laughed and put on arm around his shoulders.

“Back up on the horse, Shelley.”

***

_Did you get him to kiss you yet?!_

The text from Ella lit up the screen on George’s phone and he quickly hid it from JJ. Not that JJ would notice, he was buried under a pile of school work and obviously had other things on his mind. None the less, George didn’t want him to see the text.

_No, goof head. He’s not into me!_

_Booooo, G-man. What happened to you? You don’t give up so easily. That school is changing you!_

George groaned. Ella was annoying. Obviously she didn’t understand a thing about going after your room mate. George didn’t even want to think about all the awkwardness that would follow if George made a move and JJ shot him down. It would be terrible.

“JJ?”

“Mhm.” JJ said from underneath his pile of books.

“When will I get to take you skateboarding? I went horse riding after all.”

JJ sighed and looked up from his books.

“George, I don’t know, I just have so much work to do right now, maybe…”

George smirked.

“JJ Hamblett, are you trying to avoid it? Are you afraid of skateboards?”

JJ stared at George.

“I am _not_ afraid of skateboards.”

“Chicken!” George teased, imitating a chicken. “Chicken JJ!”

“George, I am warning you.” JJ said and put down the book. “I will slap you.”

“Chicken!” George teased again and JJ jumped him.

George fell back onto the bed, a bit shocked that JJ actually had jumped him, but then JJ started tickling him and George who was ticklish to a point where he sometimes felt he could puke when people tickled him in some places (places Rylan and Ella knew all too well) started to try to fight back.

They wrestled for a couple of minutes but JJ was so much stronger than George, it wasn’t even fair, and all too soon JJ had George pinned to the bed, his wrists pinned to the pillow over his head and JJ was straddling George’s lap, looking at him. A smirk danced on JJ’s lips and George swallowed, not at all prepared for this it wasn’t _fucking_ fair.

“Take it back.” JJ grinned, still pinning George down. “Take it back.”

“Never.” George grunted, trying to get away, but he was stuck. “Let me go, JJ!”

“Not until you take it back.”

“JJ!” George whined and squirmed underneath JJ. “This isn’t fair!”

JJ looked down on George and suddenly it was like something changed in his eyes. George looked up at him and swallowed and JJ suddenly looked nervous, a light red flush on his cheeks and his mouth was half open and he was gorgeous, and he was fucking _straddling_ George and George felt a rush of panic going through his body when his dick started throbbing inside his pants.

“I… sorry.” JJ said suddenly and let go of George’s wrists and moving away from him on the bed. “I…”

“God, you make it so hard for me.” George groaned, adjusting his dick in his pants, not even caring that JJ could see him, if JJ hadn’t felt it he must be numbed and that was not likely. JJ had felt him. “You’re a fucking tease.”

“I didn’t…”

“Let’s just forget it, okay?” George asked and looked down, trying not to show how embarrassed he was. “Just forget it.”

“Okay.” JJ whispered and then he walked over to his bed again. George tried not to be disappointed about the fact that he just walked up and left.

***

It took about a week, but then things were kind of back to normal, and one night George asked JJ about the skateboard again.

“Come on, Jay.” He begged, all pouty lips. “You promised. And since I sat up on that beast for you, you really owe me this.”

JJ sighed and looked over at Jaymi and Josh, who were sitting next to them at the table for support.

“Oh no, don’t.” Jaymi laughed and took a drink from the Coke in front of him. “You got yourself into this.”

George beamed towards Jaymi, really grateful that he was on his side in all of this.

“Thank you, Hensley. Now let’s go, JJ. You said you would.”

Josh smirked when they got up from the table.

“Break a leg, Hamblett. Or wait, you don’t say that for this, right?”

“Fuck off.” JJ mumbled, and then George grabbed his arm and dragged him along with him.

“You won’t regret this.” He teased, and they walked outside.

 

The lack of skate parks was kind of disappointing. George would have loved to see JJ’s eyes if he tried to do anything actually cool, but now when they didn’t have a skate park, the pavement had to do.

George put down the board and skated for a minute or so, showing JJ how it was done.

“It’s fun, I promise.” He laughed when he noticed the look on JJ’s face. “Seriously, I don’t understand how you can go on those big horses and then be afraid of a board with wheels. Honestly, JJ.”

“Shut up.” JJ groaned, and put one foot on the board as he was clinging to George. “I could actually die from doing this.”

George snickered and put one arm around JJ’s waist as he put both feet up on the board.

“You won’t die. Come on.”

And holding on to JJ’s hand (hoping his hand wasn’t sweaty in JJ’s hand) George slowly started pulling JJ forward, while he was on the skateboard.

JJ whimpered like a puppy dog.

“This is not funny, George.” He said after a couple of seconds. “Let’s stop this.”

“What, we’ve just begun!” George laughed, starting to walk a bit faster. “Come on, JJ. You’re a big boy, aren’t you? Nothing will happen.”

Sadly, that was a lie, because just as George said that he accidently stumbled over a rock and George fell over on the grass at the side of the pavement, pulling JJ with him.

Their bodies slammed together as the skateboard continued rolling down the road. JJ was on top of George and George, finding himself once again pinned down by JJ actually had trouble breathing right now.

“I told you this was a bad idea.” JJ groaned and then he looked down on George and George noticed how close he was, his hazel eyes looked beautiful and his lips were pink and looked soft and George wanted to kiss them so bad, trailing his tongue alongside them, up to the cheekbones, then down to the lips again, taking in the bottom lip and suckle it.

“It went fine.” George mumbled, and he couldn’t help it but he lifted his hand and softly let his finger brush JJ’s cheek. “You did well.”

JJ swallowed as he felt George’s finger along his skin.

“George, I…”

“Uhm, JJ…”

“I’m sorry, but I think I have to do this.” JJ whispered and then, _finally_ , he closed the distance between their lips.

George closed his eyes, letting JJ’s lips take over. They were soft, careful, and almost a bit unsure of what to do but then again, their lips were unfamiliar to each other so it wasn’t strange that they needed some time. At first their lips just pressed against each other, George tried to get a taste of JJ and then, finally, JJ’s tongue came darting out of his mouth and begging for entrance. George obliged, parting his lips and with a pleased sigh JJ let his tongue slip inside George’s mouth, their tongues now circling each other.

George’s hands shot up to JJ’s neck, cupping it and pulling him closer as the kiss got more intense. JJ moaned into George’s mouth and George’s started to feel a great need for oxygen but he didn’t want to end the kiss, he didn’t want it to stop. He never wanted JJ’s lips to leave his. But then JJ sighed and he came up, gasping for air and their lips left each other and George couldn’t help but to groan disappointed.

He opened his eyes to find JJ stare at him, almost looking a bit scared about what had just happened.

“I’m sorry.” JJ whispered. “I didn’t mean to… Oh god, this was stupid, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have, I just…”

“No!” George quickly said. “Or I mean, yeah, we’re lying on the grass and that is probably a bit stupid but no, this isn’t stupid. This is nice. It was nice. We should do this. Again, please.”

JJ looked so relieved George wanted to cry.

“You’ve been driving me crazy.” He admitted and then he sat up, letting George get up from the ground. “It’s impossible to control myself around you.”

“ _I’ve_ been driving _you_ crazy?” George laughed and looked down at the grass stains on his jeans. “You’ve been driving me crazy. It’s not fair how gorgeous you are.”

JJ smiled and got up from the ground, then helping George.

“We should go get your skateboard, before someone steals it.” He said and looked down the road. “Maybe there’s other kids here that wants one.”

“Well they can’t have mine!” George groaned and then they both laughed, running down the road to find it.

***

_Okay, so we kissed._

_OMFG GEORGE SHELLEY YOU TELL ME EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW HOW WAS IT OMFG TELL ME NOW_

George laughed at Rylan’s text, and then he started typing.

_On the ground, stars in the sky, he was on top. Like a proper romantic movie we are._

_Oh god I am so jealous you son of a bitch just jfc, he’s gorgeous. Boyfriends now, then?_

George blushed.

_No, no, it was just one kiss. Not sure what he wants._

_Well ask him, dumbass. I want you to be boyfriends! I’ll be waiting for the facebook relationship change._

“Are you telling him about the kiss?”

George hadn’t noticed JJ getting out of the shower, and he turned dark red.

“Uhm, I…”

JJ laughed and sat down on the bed next to George. He was only in a towel and his skin was still a bit wet, his hair was dripping and his abs looked so good. George felt weak and pathetic because really, he was practically drooling and it was so not okay.

“It’s okay if you do.” JJ leaned in closer to whisper in George’s ear. “I told Josh and Jaymi.”

“JJ Hamblett, I didn’t picture you as a kiss and tell kind of person!” George tried to act shocked but he was just smiling. JJ put one arm around his shoulders.

“Well, it was a good kiss. I don’t want to hide.”

“Does that mean it’s okay to kiss you again?” George grinned, and when JJ nodded George leaned in to plant a kiss on JJ’s lips. They kissed for a couple of minutes, then George let his hand move to JJ’s chest, touching his naked skin and JJ shivered under his fingers, smiling into the kiss.

“I should probably put some clothes on.” He laughed nervously and got up from George’s bed. George watched him walk over to the closet.

“Boo.” George complained, which caused JJ to laugh again.

“You want my naked body, Shelley?”

“Yes, please.” George said hungrily and before he could change his mind, he walked over to JJ who was picking out a shirt and pushed him against the wall, pinning him there.

“George…” JJ started, but then George covered his mouth with his own, and JJ closed his eyes, letting himself melt into the kiss and into George’s arms. George pressed his body against JJ’s, and it didn’t take long before he felt JJ’s erection pressing against his thigh through the fabric of the bath towel. Eagerly he let his hands fumble with JJ’s towel, and soon it fell to the floor. George took a half step back, letting his eyes trail over JJ’s body, letting out a soft sigh when he saw JJ’s erection, thick, hard and beautiful.

“No fair.” JJ mumbled and started tugging on George’s shirt. “I’m all nude and you’re still dressed? Not okay.”

George grinned and let JJ pull his shirt over his head, dropping it onto the floor. When they tumbled towards JJ’s bed and fell on top of it, JJ had managed to unbutton George’s jeans and George didn’t even know how he managed to do that. It was good though, because his jeans were too tight and his erection was right now too big and he wanted to get undressed as soon as possible, wanting to feel JJ against him.

JJ seemed to want the same thing, because he quickly pulled off both George’s jeans and boxers, leaving them both naked and sweating. When JJ had taken a moment to admire George’s body he laid down on top of him, causing their erections to slide against each other as they kissed passionately.

George moaned into JJ’s mouth as he felt their dicks go together, and JJ then reached down, his hand grabbing both of their dicks at the same time, starting to pump them.

JJ’s fist was good. It was strong, it was perfect and George’s head dropped back onto the pillow, groaning up into the ceiling as JJ continued to jerk them both off, their dicks so close to each other.

“Can you come like this?” JJ whispered into George’s ear and he moaned.

“Fuck _yes_ , don’t stop, please.”

“You’re so polite when you’re horny.” JJ grinned and George wanted to say that JJ has such a foul mouth when he’s horny but his ability to form words seemed to be lost somewhere.

George came almost awkwardly and embarrassingly quickly, but JJ isn’t that far behind him and George moaned into JJ’s ear as he felt their sticky come all over his own stomach and JJ’s hands.

JJ gasped and lay down next to George, letting his arms slither around George’s waist as George turned his back on him, feeling JJ’s now softened erection pressed against the small of his back, as JJ planted kisses on his neck.

“Didn’t know you had gifts like these.” George mumbled sleepily as he felt JJ’s heartbeats. “Wow.”

“I have so many gifts you’d be surprised.”

“You have to show them all to me.” George grinned and JJ smiled into his neck.

“If you stay with me.”

“After what we just experienced? Please. I will practically beg you to take me on as your boyfriend.”

George kind of regretted speaking the boyfriend-word just when he’s said it, and he expected JJ to ignore it but JJ just continued to smile into his neck.

“Boyfriend. Really?”

“Uhm, we don’t have to…” George’s cheeks are flushed and he really wanted to end the conversation before it turned awkward. JJ hushed him.

“I like the idea of you as my boyfriend. Even if you’re a skater.”

George laughed, he can’t help it.

“Dude, I’m putting my reputation on the line here, dating a stable boy.”

“Stable boys are cool.” JJ defended himself quickly and pinched George’s side. “Especially here we are. If we visit your place one day, maybe you get to be the cool one.”

“Hey, I’m always the cool one.”

George turned over so that he could look at JJ. JJ’s eyes were sparkling and they were so beautiful George felt weak to the knees again. JJ let one his hands play with George’s curls.

“I think I could be in love with you, George.” JJ said, a pale blush on his cheek. “Maybe.”

It made George a bit too happy to hear that.

“Already? Man, I’m good.”

JJ smiled and pulled him closer into a kiss.

“That you are.”

***

George was in such a good mood the next day that he even risked skateboarding in the hallway on the way to his next class. This was probably really forbidden, and maybe he looked a bit ridiculous in his school uniform, on a board, but then again, George didn’t really care.

Most of the people he passed looked at him in horror as he soared passed them (giving them the _what’s up_ -nod) and when he was closing in to his classroom none of his teachers had noticed him anyway, so he jumped off the board, picking it up while whistling.

He didn’t notice the gang of jocks closing in on him until they were really close, almost surrounding him like a pack of vultures. George sighed.

He had seen these guys, Josh was on the team after all, so some of them now and then hung out with him. George didn’t even really know what kind of sports team they were actually part of (he thought Josh had said something about polo but George really didn’t know what that was, and had just been annoyed they couldn’t play footie or basketball like jocks usually did) but everyone treated them like they were special, anyway. No difference there.

“Fag.” One of them hissed, as another bumped into George. George lifted both his hands up in a stop sign.

“Woah, boys. What’s up with the name calling? Not cool.”

One of the boys, the largest and with an almost evil grin on his face, snorted.

“Whatever, fag. Saw you sucking face with Hamblett. Disgusting.”

“Love is not disgusting, mister.” George said, trying to sound calm and in charge, like he wasn’t really bothered by the fact that he was cornered by a pack of jocks, who were all bigger than he was and also like, five to one. “Anyway, we’re all on the same team here, right? You play with balls, I play with balls. Just different balls but same thing all the same, right? Be cool.”

Rylan had warned him sometimes about being too much of a smart mouth, and now George kind of understood what he meant, because the evil looking jock grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall. It hurt.

“I should beat you to a pulp, Shelley.” He murmured and George chipped for breath.

“Do it!” the other jocks cheered their mate on, but then their teacher showed up.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Vance asked, a suspicious eye on all of the gang. The jock holding on to the collar of George’s shirt let him go.

“Nothing. Just playing around.” He shot a charming smile towards Mr. Vance, who still looked a bit suspicious as he looked at George.

“Is that so?”

The jocks looked at George with eyes that clearly stated he would regret saying otherwise, and he nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re cool.”

“I’ll get you later.” One of the jocks hissed as George walked into the classroom. “Just wait.”

***

When George got back to the dorm JJ was already there.

“So, this school isn’t that different after all.” George said as he shut the door and JJ looked up from his books with a puzzled face. “Still got the homophobic jerk jocks.”

JJ immediately dropped the book and walked over to George, wrapping his arms around him.

“What? Was it Dylan and his gang? What did they do now?”

George let himself breathe in the nice scent of JJ and then he sighed.

“Nothing really, the usual that kind of people those.. Ganging up on me, telling me how disgusting I am. Whatever.”

“I’m sorry, George.” JJ kissed one of his curls. “They’re like that. They were… they went after me when I first came here. Didn’t really hide that I’m… Well, it’s kinda easy to find out I’m gay so…”

“They went after you too?”

“Yeah, beat me up a couple of times. Turned pretty much everyone against me.”

George groaned as he heard that and pulled JJ closer. JJ smiled.

“Wasn’t that bad. Anyway, they stopped when Josh told them off.”

“They are jerks. Didn’t you report them?”

“No, I don’t think they could do much. I mean, if they got in trouble their parents would probably just buy themselves out of it and yeah… Anyway, they stopped. You want to lay low then?” JJ asked, worried eyes on George’s eyes. “I mean, with us. So they don’t see us.”

George shook his head.

“Never, ever.” He kissed JJ’s lips carefully. “You’re my boyfriend and I’ll be damned not to show it to everyone. I don’t hide.”

“I love how stupid you are.” JJ laughed and kissed him again. “You’re not afraid they will beat you up?”

“Have you seen my muscles? I can take them.” George showed off his biceps and JJ smirked.

“I’m sure of it, skater boy.”

 

“I heard what happened with Dylan, George.” Josh said at dinner when they had started eating their lasagna. “I told them off, okay? They won’t bother you guys anymore. They are stupid.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” George said, playing with his food with his fork. “Just…”

“Stop, it is a big deal. I can’t believe they still do that.” Jaymi shook his head in horror. “They are awful, really.”

JJ’s hand found George’s under the table and he squeezed it.

“Some people are like that.” JJ said, and took a sip of water from his glass. “Just hope they grow out of it.”

“Yeah well, they won’t bother you anyway.” Josh said and swallowed a mouth full of food. “I told them.”

“Good.” George said, but some parts of him just didn’t believe it.

***

It was almost dark when George made his way back to the school. He had been craving to go on his skateboard in the moonlight and JJ was swamped with homework so he was alone. He felt really pleased, he had even called up Rylan and Ella as he skated down the roads, and they had asked him everything about JJ.

George was almost at the school door when a strong hand grabbed him.

“Shelley.”

The jock, Dylan was his name right, hissed in his ear. George wanted to sigh.

“What do you want now?”

“Your friend Cuthbert might think he can decide on what we do but he can’t.” Dylan hissed in his ear and George noticed three other guys closing up on him, grabbing him. “We don’t want fags here. Especially not two of them sucking face.”

George opened his mouth to say something but then they pushed him down on the ground. Dylan leaned over him, a vicious smile dancing on his lips.

“You’ll regret coming here.”

George closed his eyes when he felt the first kick in his back.

***

A soft hand caressing his cheek woke George up. He was lying on something cold, and everything hurt in his body, everything.

“George.” It was only a soft whisper but it was obviously JJ’s voice. “George, just lay still.”

“I…” George groaned but it hurt too much to form words. He grasped at the ground, realising he was still outside, lying in the grass. JJ was holding his hand.

“I found you here.” JJ whispered and George managed to look up, noticing he had tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe they… I reported them, George. Aldridge is… The ambulance is coming.”

“I don’t need…” George began but JJ hushed him, stroking his hair calmly as he kissed his forehead.

Then strong arms grabbed him again and George was being taken to an ambulance, he got to lay down on a bed as JJ sat next to him, and someone checked his heart and lungs with a stethoscope.

His head hurt so much and George slumbered off. When he opened his eyes again he was in a hospital bed. Everything was white and he was hooked up to some kind of machine that was beeping now and then. He looked down, noticing that he was dressed in a hospital gown. Then he looked to the side, noticing JJ watching over him.

“George.” JJ sighed with relief and grabbed his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Why am I in the hospital?” George groaned and his throat felt dry. “I…”

“They beat you up pretty bad.” JJ whispered and carefully sat down next to George on the bed. “You don’t remember?”

“I…” George closed his eyes, and yes he remembered some of it. Just not all of it.

“They’re getting reported and… Mr. Aldridge, he was so furious. He called your parents and…”

“My parents are coming here?” George grunted and tried to sit up. JJ nodded.

“They’re already here.”

As on cue, George’s mum burst into the room, tears in her eyes.

“George, baby!” She sobbed and hugged him as tight as she dared. “I was so worried, my dear. When they called, I…”

George’s dad followed her and squeezed George’s hand.

“Thank god JJ found you.” He said and gave JJ a thankful look, JJ blushed.

“We’re taking you out of this school.” George’s mum mumbled and let go of George. “Back home. This never happened at home, I…”

George felt cold inside. He glanced over at JJ who took a step back.

“Mum, I…” George stammered. “I’m fine. I… I don’t want to go. Not just because of some jerks, I…”

JJ turned his back on them, but George managed to catch a glimpse of the smug smile on his face. His mum on the other hand looked a bit shocked.

“But, George, I thought you didn’t…”

“I know. I didn’t. But I…” George looked at his parents, then glanced over at JJ and as his cheeks turned red both his parents face turned from shocked to understanding. His dad smiled and squeezed George’s arm.

“You like it here then?”

George looked down, trying to avoid turning red, and then he nodded. His mum hugged him tight again.

“Well, your grades are improving.”

George nodded.

“Yeah, I have a great study buddy.”

His dad smiled and put on arm around his mum’s shoulders.

“Well, if you like it, then…”

“I do.” George said quickly. “Please, let me stay.”

“We’ll make sure they take care of those guys.” His mom said with a serious face. “But if they do, then…”

George looked up, and he looked at JJ who was turning around to face him. He couldn’t help it, but he was beaming.

***

_This is so romantic G-man. Not the beatings, but that you’re staying omg, I want to meet him_

_He’s mine though, no touching._

_I promise xx_

George smiled at the screen of his laptop. He was in a skype chat with Rylan and Ella, he had just told them about his decision to stay and even though he didn’t really doubt that they would understand him, he had still been a bit nervous. The fact that he was staying instead of coming back to them maybe could seem a bit strange.

_I’d stay for him too_. Rylan wrote. _He’s hot._

George snickered and looked over at JJ who was half sleeping, half reading a book on his bed. He was really gorgeous. Who could have thought boarding schools could have guys like him?

_I have to sign off guys, I have some kissing to do._

_Use a condom! x_

George laughed and closed the laptop, and then he slowly walked over to JJ’s bed, took the book from him and laid down on top of him, nuzzling into his neck.

“Hey.” He mumbled as JJ’s arms wrapped around him. “I need some cuddles.”

“The cuddle factory is open.” JJ mumbled and George kissed his lips slowly, taking in all of the taste, really letting himself feel him.

“You’re kind of a geek, you know that right?”

“You like it when I’m geeky.”

George moaned and kissed him again.

“I love it when you’re geeky.”

JJ smiled and caressed George’s upper arms as he kissed him again, a bit deeper than before but still carefully and slowly. George let his fingers move up under JJ’s shirt, touching his bare skin as JJ moaned into his mouth.

“For how long did the doctors said you had to rest?” JJ whispered and moved his lips to George’s ear, kissing it. George closed his eyes, and then let his hand move down towards JJ’s belt buckle.

“I think this count as resting.” He mumbled and then caught JJ’s lips with his own again.

JJ pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, then suckled on George’s bottom lip. When JJ’s hands moved over his body though, George whimpered, feeling the bruises hurting. JJ stopped, smiling.

“You’re not ready for this yet, George.” He decided and George groaned.

“But I want it.”

“We’ll have time.” JJ whispered and kissed him carefully. “Lots of it actually. Since you’re staying.”

“Of course I am staying.” George whispered back. “I can’t… I don’t want to leave you.”

JJ smiled and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Even though we have horses and no skate parks?”

“Even though all that.” George laughed and kissed JJ’s cheek. “Your face kinda makes up for that. You’re hot.”

“Easy on the compliments, Shelley, we’re not gonna do anything tonight.” JJ smirked and George groaned disappointed.

“Boo.”

“I like you.” JJ whispered. “Is it too soon to be in love with you, skater boy?”

George cheeks turned red and then he shook his head.

“I think I could be in love with you, stable boy.”

JJ sighed with relief and held George close as George nuzzled into his neck again.

“Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave feedback if you want, either here or on [tumblr](http://shellett-is-my-oxygen.tumblr.com/) !
> 
> Thank you x


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